Dropper jacquard mechanism



June 1958 F. H. HASLAM-JONES 2,839,962

DRQPPER JACQUARD MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 2, 1955 June 24, 1958 F. H. HASLAM-JONES 2,839,962

DROPPER JACQUARD MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 2, 1955 Inventor; wm K Hove 4;. u H; MW 'J o n e 5 By: WM

June 24, 1958 F. H. HASLAMJONES 2,839,962

DROPPER JACQUARD MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 2, 1955 r V A 2,839,962 Patented June 24, 1958 one after another at each cycle of the mechanism, to an 5 assembly ofdropp'ers and by relative movement between the operative card and the droppers selected droppers are caused to occupy a projected position and other'selected droppersare caused to oecupy audit-projected position, the selection being gov'err'ied by the numher'and pattern of the perforations. Such mechanism is commonly employed in textile machines; for example, in Leavers lace machines it is employed "to, ,sel'cffor 'the moveiiieritthe steel bars (or thread guide" bars) ehreh c eneel the warp and haint ad and also topredefermine the extent to which any'selected steel bar is maven, It has been ascertained that (sneer the factors limitingthesped of operation of' 'Leavers 'l'acemachi'ries is the speed at which the jacquar chanis'm be-eperatea and it has further been ascertaihed'tha i the factors limiting the speed "(if jacquard Ha ismis the incident the various parts. In jacquard mechanism er the type specified as hitherto used on Leavers 1a c'e h'iachines the droppers are arranged vertically and their return from the projected or upper position to 'the 'non-projected or lower positionjis'achie'ved bygr'avity. There is thus some danger that some of the di'tippe'rs may remain in the upper position" after a "given cycle tneperauons, thus falsifying the sae'cuen tobe effectedat'thenext cycle, or may return comparatively slowly, thereby imposinga limitationon'th'e speed of the mechanism. objectof the present invention "is to efict such improvements as will at least reduce these disadvantages. 'Aifur't'her'disadvantage is that the dioppersrnayib'e raised too much by reason "of theirbwn momentum; and "a subsidiary object of the invention is to prevent this happening.

The invention therefore provides dropper jacquard mechanism 6f the" type specified having cancelling means for restoringdroppers from th'efprojected to the nonprojecte d'position at each'cycle of the mechanism. It will therefore he appreciated that since the restoration independent oflf 'th'e nine fer gravity the disadvantages above di sclissed ar'efat leastminimised. It Will further beappreciated that the invention .is not restricted in'its utility to jacquard echanisin'in which't he droppers are movable vertically. V M n b n The canclhng 'rriearis preferably'comptises a springbiasedniember foriengagingprojected droppersianfd for restoring them, 'and' means for moving said member against thesprin'g bias at each cycle to make it ready, there beihg provid'ed a releasable detentfor retaining the spring-biased member in the readyp'osition, and means for releasing saiditl'etent at each cycle; 1

According to an 'important subsidiary feature of this invention the cancelhngrnearis comprises a member (e. g.

vthe aforesaid spring-biased member) serving as a stop to limit projection of tlfnedi-opp'ers. Thus the droppers are "prevehtedifrhin beingrai'se'd tee much by'reason' of their own momentum.

The foregoing a'rrd otheffatures of meant/ma nate incorporated in the dropper jacquard mechanism of the type specified which will now be described with reference to the drawing in which:

Figure l is an end elevation partly in section of the relevant parts of the mechanism, while Figure 2 is a front elevation of one end of the mechanisrn; and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which 7 Figure 3 is a side elevation of a double mechanism according to this invention, in its casing (with a cover plate of the latter removed),

Figure 4 is a view looking in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 3, with a cover plate removed.

Referring primarily to Figures 1 and 2 (and to the mechanism shown in the left-hand part of Figure 3), the jacquard mechanism comprises a hexagonal card cylinder 10,.the spindle 11 of which is supported at each end in an upstanding 'lever.12 (whereof only the left-hand lever is shown in Figure 2) pivoted at its lower end and pivotally connected at its upper end by means 13 to a hori- 'zon'tal driving bar 14 which is reciprocated' along guides 15 by 'means indicated at 16; The dropper cylinder is capable of being indexedat each cycle of the machine by mechanism '17 and carries a chain of jacquard cards 18. At each cycle one of the cards is presented horizontally to and beneath a multiplicity of flexible droppers 19. The cylinder 10 and the operative card are then raised vertically. Holes in the card register with certain droppers and these droppers remain down. Other droppers are engaged by the card and are elevated. Thus, according to the arrangement of the holes in thecard, the numher and pattern of the raised droppersis selected. The droppers are arranged in a number of banks (shown as five), in the axial direction of the cylinder 10 and the droppers in the various banks are arranged in files from front to rear as viewed in Figure 2. The droppers are slidably supported in member 20 mounted on the levers 12. They have needle-like parts 21 at their lower ends for entering the holes punched in the cards and at their upper ends have heads 22 forthe purpose hereinafter described. At an intermediate location in their height they have shoulders 23 and above these shoulders they extend through a comb 24 which is the spring-biased member before referred to. This comb 24has bars which extend between the various banks of the droppers 19 and it will be appreciated that downward movementof the comb 24 causes it to act on the shoulders 23 of any raised droppers and to lower the latter. l At'each end the comb 24 is carried by plungers 25 slidably mounted in guides 26 directly or indirectly supported from the levers 12., At its lower end each plunger 25 has ahead 27 and between said head and the guide 26'is encircled by a compression spring'28. Springs 28 therefore serve to bias the comb 24 downwards.

As the cylinder 10 is raised to raiseselected droppers, the comb 24 is raised against the action of the spring bias to make it ready. For this purpose at each end of the cylinder 10 there is a disc 29'which engages the plunger heads 27, It may here be pointed out that the comb memberj24 serves as a stop to limit upward movement of the droppers so that they are prevented from flying up, under their own momentum,rto an undesired height.

The member 24 is'temporarilyretained in the ready position by 'a detent constituted by latches 30 each pivoted at 31 to the adjacent lever 12, each latch having a nose'32 adapted to engage under part 33 on member '24. The latches are urged to their operative position by springs 34. i

The latches are released at a predetermined point in each cycle in any suitable manner. 7 For example, as the jacquard mechanism swings to the right in Figure l, the latches may be engaged'by stationary stops. However in the particular mechanism illustrated, each latch has a tail 39 which during movement of the jacquard member to the right becomes positioned beneath a nose 38 on a lever 36 pivoted on a stationary pivot 37. At the time this occurs movement of the 'driving .bar 14 to the right causes a cam 35thereon to depress the lever 36 against the action of a returnspring 40. The nose 38 thnsiacts on-the tail 39 of th e adjacent latch 30 and releases the latter so that the cancelling member 24 is able todes cend.

The precise point in the cycle at which descent takes place (thereby cancelling the selection of droppers) may be delayed by the dwell of the cylinder and discs 29 iri their upper position. In the.arrangement illustrated the cylinder rises to make a selection in the latter stages of and after the travel ofithe. jacquard mechanism. and of the'driving bar 14 to the right. In this selection the head 22 of, any selected dropper or droppers in a selected file or files is interposed between the left handedge of driving bar 14 and a part .41 on a member42 to be actuated bythe driving bar 14 on its return to the left. Each member 42 has a second part 41' which is engaged by the driving bar 14 connected to the right hand mechanism. In the illustrated construction this member 42 is that part which in a Leavers lace machine is known as a box and is attached toone of the steel bars, there being one box for each file "of droppers in each mecha-' nism. After the cylinder has risen to present a selection of droppers, and lifted up the cancelling member 24, it descends as the jacquard mechanism and driving bar return to the left, leaving the cancelling member engaged by the latch 30. During return ,of the driving bar 14 to the left the heads 22 of the selected'and raised droppers are gripped between the driving bar and the parts'41 of the boxes 42. Once this grip has been 'established the cylinder 10 descends and during continued travel to the left the selected box'is driven to the left by an amount governed by the number of raised droppers in its associated file (i. e. by the aggregate thickness of the heads of the raised droppers). The grip on the heads of the raised droppers is relaxed during the next travel to the right, when the second part 41' on the boxesengages the second driving bar 14 thus relieving the grip on the droppers; the springs 28 assert themselves and all the raised droppers are lowered by the cancelling member 24.

It will thus be appreciated that the present invention obviates the possibility that any dfoppenraised at one selection, will stick or lag in position and remain up at the next selection and also prevents the droppers being raised too far by theirown momentum when lifted by the jacquard cylinder. 7 l i As shown inlFigures 3 and 4, the levers 12 are pivoted at 44 at their lower ends in the frame or casing 45, for movement about an axis which is parallel with that of the cylinder 10. In order that the cylinder 10 may be raised and lowered, its spindle 11 is carried at its ends in bearing blocks 46each of which is slidably, guided in a guide slot 47 extending lengthwise of the associated lever 12. Movement of the cylinder up and down levers 12 is produced by connecting rods 48 extending between bearing blocks 46 and bell crank levers. 49 pivoted at 50, these levers 49 being each further connected by connecting rod 51 to one arm of a truck lever 52 pivoted at 53 and having a truck 54 engaging a suitable cam 55 on a constantly rotating camshaft 56.

The rocking movement of levers 12 and cylinder 10 is derived from a cam shaft 57 and a countercam'shaft 58 bymeans of a truck lever 59 pivoted at 60, to which truck lever the driving bar 14 is connected by the link 16. Movement of the jacquard cylinder 10 away from the droppers 19 brings it into position to be acted on by mechanism 17. This mechanism consists of a pinion 61 and a quadrant 62 pivoted at 63. As the jacquard cylinder is lowered thelpinion 61 engages the teeth of the quadrant, the latter is rocked at an appropriate time 4 through link 64, truck lever 65 and truck bya cam 67 on the camshaft 56.-

The mechanism illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is shown in the left-hand part of Figure 3 and is duplicated in the right-hand part. In the two mechanisms like reference numbers indicate like parts, but the reference numbers forthe right-hand mechanism are primed.

The second jacquard mechanism, having primed reference numbers, is out of phase with the other mechanism by 180. Thus while levers 12 swing tothe left, levers 12 are stationary in their upright right-hand position, and while levers 12 swing to the left, levers 12 are stationary in their upright right-handposition, and while cylinder 10 ascendscylinderlfl' is lowered. ,Moreover, although quadrants 36 and 36' move simultaneously 66 acted on (being connected by the link 64) the quadrant 36' makes its working stroke while the quadrant 36 makes its idle return stroke. The cam shafts are all driven from the driving shaft 68.

I claim: a V p 1. Dropper jacquard mechanism operable in a repeat cycle and having, in combination, a jacquard cylinder, jacquard cards on the cylinder, variable numbersand patterns of'perfo'rations' on the cards, an assembly of droppers adjacent the cylinder to be selected at each cycle by'relative movement between the cylinder and the droppers such that some of the droppers become disposed in projected position and others remain in nonprojected position as governed by said perforations, and control means fo'r the droppers operable at each cycle and consisting of stop means for limiting projection of the droppers, means for moving the stop means to dispose them in effective position, a releasable detent for retaining the stop means in the effective position, means for releasing the detent, and spring means returning the stopmeans and consequently the droppers.

2. Dropper jacquard mechanism operable in a repeat cycle and having in'fcombination, a jacquard cylinder, jacquard cards on the cylinder, vari'able, numbers and patterns of perforations on the cards, an assembly of droppers adjacent the cylinder to be selected at each cycle byrelative movement between the, cylinder and u the droppers such that'some of the droppers become disposed in projected-i position and others remain in nonprojected position as governed by said perforations, and control means for the droppers operable at each cycle and consistingiof stop means moving with the cylinder to be disposed in effective position limiting projection of the droppers, a releasable detent for retaining the stop means in the effective position, means forreleasing the detent, and. springmeans returning the stop means and consequently, the droppers. .1

3. Dropper jacquard mechanism operable 'in a repeat cycle and having in combination, a jacquard cylinder, jacquard .cards' on the cylinder, variable numbers and patterns of perforations on the cards, an assembly of droppers adjacent ,the cylinder to be selected at each cycle such that some .become disposed in projected position and others remain in non-projected position as governed by said perforations, control means for restoring the droppers from the projected to the non-projected position at each cycle, movable support means mounting the cylinder, droppers, and control1means for to and fro movement in a direction transverse to the projecting movement of the droppers, and means mounting the cylinder and control means on the movable support means for movement'thereon towards and away from the droppers for effecting the selections, 4. Dropper jacquard. mechanismoperable ina repeat cycle and having in combination, a jacquard cylinder, jacquard cards on the cylinder, variable numbers and patterns of perforations on the cards, an assembly of droppers adjacent the cylinder to be selected at each cycle such that some become disposed in projected posifis a id, Pil ar remain in, cga qi td nmit sm assaaoa trol means for the droppers operable at each cycle and consisting of stop means for limiting projection of the droppers, means for moving the stop means to dispose them in effective position, a releasable detent for retaining the stop means in the effective position, movable support means mounting the cylinder, droppers, and control means for to and fro movement in a direction transverse to the projecting movement of the droppers, means whereby this movement of the movable support means releases the detent, and spring means returning the stop means and consequently the droppers.

5. Dropper jacquard mechanism having in combination, reciprocatable selection elements, a reciprocatable driver therefor, an oscillatible support member movable with the driver, an assembly of droppers mounted on the support member for selection into projected position determining the reciprocatory relationship between said element and the driver, a jacquard cylinder, jacquard cards on the cylinder, variable numbers and patterns of perforations on the jacquard cards, means mounting the cylinder on the support member for movement towards and away from the droppers to efiect their selection as governed by said perforations, a control member movably mounted on the support member for movement with the projecting droppers, abutments on the droppers, limit stop means on the control member cooperating with the abntments on the droppers to limit the projection of the droppers, a catch on the support member, an abutment on the control member engaging behind the catch when the control member is projected to delay its return, a catch-release member operable by the driver to release the catch and allow return of the control member, and spring means returning the control member and also returning the droppers through the intermediary of the limit stop means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 242,463 Malhere June 7, 1881 379,484 Meats Mar. 13, 1888 507,575 Zimermann Oct. 31, 1893 1,214,449 Fuchs Jan. 30, 1917 2,341,952 Schuler Feb. 15, 1944 

